The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.
In recent years, there has been an OS (Operating System) to be installed in a personal computer (PC) which has the function thereof limited to perform only a specific function. However, a area dedicated to the OS is not prepared in a storage device such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive). OSes which are shipped in the state in which they have been installed in personal computers include a general-purpose OS and a specific-function OS. The specific-function OS has been installed in combination with the general-purpose OS in one storage device. The specific-function OS cannot be recognized from the general-purpose OS. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the general-purpose OS, the specific-function OS is an unusable area. Accordingly, it is necessary to minimize the area of the specific-function OS.
Even when a variety of control devices (which are also termed peripheral devices) and applications for operating the control devices are connected exclusively to the specific-function OS, the area of the OS with a specific function should be calculated by considering all the control devices and the applications for operating the control devices. There has been a technology which installs, in a controller to which control devices are connectable, applications corresponding to the connected control devices (see, e.g., Patent document 1).                [Patent document 1] JP 2002-182919 A        [Patent document 2] JP 2002-323977 A        
The technology mentioned above recognizes the control devices by using a controller. Therefore, even though any of the control devices is not actually used, the application therefor is stored (also termed installed) because the controller detects the control device. Once the application has been installed, even when the connected control device can easily be detached, the application therefor that has become unnecessary cannot be deleted (also termed uninstalled).
It follows that, even when the capacity of the storage device in which the operation systems are installed is limited, the unnecessary application is present therein. As a result, there are cases where, even when a control device is added and an operation for installing an application therefor is newly performed, the application cannot be installed because of the limited capacity of the storage device. In addition, a delay occurs in the activation time for the OS due to the unnecessary application.